Gov. Cuomo still holds a commanding lead over Republican Rob Astorino—even as the Democrat incumbent’s own numbers dropped over the past month, a new Siena College poll released Monday morning show.
Cuomo would defeat Astorino by a 61% to 26% margin if the election were held today, the Siena College poll found.
Two thirds of the electorate still don’t have an opinion of Astorino, the Westchester County executive who recently announced he’s running for governor, the poll shows.
Cuomo is running strong in the city and suburbs. He holds a slight edge (46% to 42%) upstate.
The Siena poll is the first since Astorino formally entered the race and Donald Trump announced formally he wasn’t running.
But all isn’t perfect for the governor, who in January held a $33.3 million to $1 million fundraising edge over Astorino.
Cuomo’s favorable rating dropped to 58%, down from 60% a month ago. He is weakest upstate, where 51% view him unfavorably.
And just 49% statewide say they are prepared to reelect Cuomo while 41% say they would prefer someone else.
Cuomo’s job approval also fell, with 46% now saying he’s doing an excellent or good job and 54% branding his performance as fair or poor. That’s down slightly since last month and his lowest job approval since November.
Still, 64% say he’s been an effective governor, even if 52% say Cuomo makes decisions based on what he thinks is best for his political future. Just 44% say he makes decisions based on what he thinks is best for New Yorkers.
The good news for Astorino is that 47% of voters say they believe a Republican can beat Cuomo in November, compared to 32% who say it won’t happen.
And only 19% say they are better off economically than when Cuomo took office in 2011.
